SPEAKER_00: The scripture reading this morning is found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18.
SPEAKER_00: I will be reading verses 15 through 17.
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SPEAKER_00: The Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, beginning in verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them, and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus called them to him, saying, Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
SPEAKER_00: This is God's word.
SPEAKER_00: We're back in Luke this morning, and we come across an interesting event and uh that's sandwiched between two well-known stories.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus here is on his way to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He has resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem, towards the cross.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, uh shortly he will tell his twelve disciples, uh, see, we are going to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
SPEAKER_00: He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.
SPEAKER_00: And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.
SPEAKER_00: If you're looking at the passage, you notice just prior to this, Jesus had told them the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
SPEAKER_00: And he told them this parable, Luke says, uh, because some trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
SPEAKER_00: And we find in that story it was not the proud, self-righteous Pharisee that went a home that went home justified, but it was the broken, humbled tax collector who recognized that he had nothing to offer and cried out for mercy and grace.
SPEAKER_00: Following this, we're going to see the story of the rich young ruler, this rich young man who comes to Christ to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to know what it is that he needs to do to perform in order to have eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: He's proud and self-righteous.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we'll see that he tells Jesus that he has kept all of the commandments since he was a child.
SPEAKER_00: In all three of these stories, the Pharisee and the tax collector, this one of the children coming to Jesus and the rich young ruler, Jesus is answering the same question.
SPEAKER_00: How does a person enter the kingdom of God?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, how is a person forgiven and receive eternal life?
SPEAKER_00: On the surface, this event here in verses 15 through 17 is very straightforward.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is going along and was common in that day.
SPEAKER_00: There were people that were bringing their children to Jesus, even their babies, their infants, for Jesus to bless.
SPEAKER_00: And this was perfectly understandable.
SPEAKER_00: Parents want the best for their children.
SPEAKER_00: Here was a rabbi, here was one who was coming that word had spread of his fame, of the miracles that he had performed, of the words that he had said that were like none other.
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't uncommon for parents to take their children, even their infant babies, to Jesus, to great rabbis.
SPEAKER_00: And so these parents are bringing their children to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, as far back as Genesis, we can see the laying on of hands and the pronouncement of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: For instance, it says in Genesis 48, and Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
SPEAKER_00: And here Jacob pronounces a blessing on these children.
SPEAKER_00: But as they were bringing the babies, these children, to Jesus, the apostles intervene.
SPEAKER_00: It says, if you notice in verse 15, as when they were bringing the infants to him that he might touch them, the disciples saw it and they rebuked the parents.
SPEAKER_00: What's the deal with the apostles here?
SPEAKER_00: What's going on with them?
SPEAKER_00: What's the perspective of the apostles?
SPEAKER_00: And we don't know what was going on in their hearts, and there's a lot of different possibilities.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps they had good motives.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they had good motives.
SPEAKER_00: They thought, well, surely Jesus was tired at this point.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps they were protecting him from more activity.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had been in ministry and was going along, and perhaps they were protecting him from overwork, from more activity.
SPEAKER_00: Or perhaps Jesus, knowing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and they had a growing sense of things coming to a head, maybe they just didn't want Jesus to be distracted from his mission.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they had good motives for what they were doing.
SPEAKER_00: Or it could be that they saw the stress on Jesus' face as they moved towards Jerusalem and they wanted to prevent added pressure.
SPEAKER_00: And so it could be that the apostles had good motives for what they were doing here.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, it's possible that they also may have had wrong motives for their actions here.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they thought that children were insignificant and unworthy of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He only had 24 hours in the day and 365 days in the year.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't have time for everyone, and he needed to make time for the more important people.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe they looked at these children and thought that they were insignificant.
SPEAKER_00: Or they could have thought that these children were not old enough to be useful.
SPEAKER_00: What difference would it make anyway?
SPEAKER_00: Some of these children were just babies.
SPEAKER_00: They wouldn't even remember this encounter with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Or it could be, knowing human nature as it is, that perhaps they were jealous of the attention that Jesus was getting, that Jesus was giving them, that Jesus was turning his attention from the apostles to others, and perhaps they were jealous of the attention that Jesus gave to these children.
SPEAKER_00: Don't we often do that when someone else gets the attention that we believe belongs to us?
SPEAKER_00: Or it could be, and again we don't know, but it could be that maybe they didn't like children.
SPEAKER_00: Some people see children as a nuisance and a bother.
SPEAKER_00: I had an elderly friend, and I won't go on to too much detail because he could listen to this online.
SPEAKER_00: But I had an elderly friend that he he loved children as long as they weren't in his presence or bothered him in any way.
SPEAKER_00: And in some ways, he was a great guy, but he just did not like children.
SPEAKER_00: And it was the craziest thing.
SPEAKER_00: I would be up preaching, and if and and he usually sat, I can still picture, he usually sat on the, you know, and everyone by the way, you all sit in the same spots most of the time.
SPEAKER_00: It's funny when we have combined services and your spots taken.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I I watch you on Christmas Eve, you try to get there early and and you know, and put some a place marker down so that you have your spot.
SPEAKER_00: And and this guy, I can see he always sat on the on the right hand side, my left hand side, about five rows back from the front.
SPEAKER_00: And but it but but woe to the mother whose child made a sound during the service.
SPEAKER_00: Because I would watch this man, and I could see the whole thing, because I would watch him, and he would turn and he would look and he would stare at that mother until they made eye contact, and he communicated clearly his displeasure and disdain at that child.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, most of the time it was first-time visitors who weren't second-time visitors.
SPEAKER_00: I actually had some friends of mine that they they had this experience.
SPEAKER_00: They stayed at the church and they told me jokingly, they said, Well, when we didn't do anything, he found us after the service in the lobby to make sure we knew never to do that again.
SPEAKER_00: And I talked to the guy and he's like, No, I love children.
SPEAKER_00: In the other room.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe, I don't know, but perhaps the disciples here just were irritated.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we we don't know why they were doing this, but we see their actions.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they had good motives and they did the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they had bad motives and they did the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_00: But but whatever the case, whatever the case, we see their actions.
SPEAKER_00: And they see these parents bringing the children, bringing these infants to Jesus, and they rebuke the parents.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we know here that uh it was both mothers and fathers because the word that's used here for them is a masculine plural, so it would have been the both of the parents with some of these children, the mothers and fathers, they were bringing their infants, their small children, their toddlers, they were bringing them to Jesus so that Jesus might lay his hands on them and pray for them and bless them.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples saw this and they rebuked them.
SPEAKER_00: Don't bring those kids here.
SPEAKER_00: Don't bring your children to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We don't know what was going on in their hearts, but clearly they saw these children differently than Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: Either way, whatever their motive might have been, we don't know.
SPEAKER_00: We see their actions, but whatever it was, they didn't remember the heart of their Savior at this moment.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't remember the heart of Jesus towards all people, regardless of their status, regardless of who they were or what they could give, because they could give nothing.
SPEAKER_00: They forgot the heart of their Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Well, this doesn't justify the disciples' uh reactions here, but it's helpful to understand what the attitude was of the culture of the day towards children, because in many ways it's different from the attitude of most people today.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what was the attitude of uh the culture, the position uh of children in that culture?
SPEAKER_00: So uh we we uh we saw the perspective of the apostles first, but what was the position of the children?
SPEAKER_00: What was the view of children in Roman culture?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the attitude in that culture until they were old enough to contribute something to the family, many people saw children as merely a burden to bear.
SPEAKER_00: Children had no rights, they had no authority, they had no power, they had no status.
SPEAKER_00: In the eyes of most people, small children were non-entities.
SPEAKER_00: They did not hold a cherished place in people's hearts and minds and eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Parents would have cared for them and nurtured them and showed a level of love to them, but but the culture would have said that they were non-people, they had no status, they had no place, they had no rights, they were nobodies, they were nothings, they were insignificant.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we even get glimpses of this when the Apostle Paul later acknowledges this in his letter to the Galatians.
SPEAKER_00: He's writing to the Galatians and he's he's talking about uh the gospel, and he talks about the coming of Christ and the change that happens with the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And he says this in passing.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave.
SPEAKER_00: Though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
SPEAKER_00: Even in the family, until that child reached the age set by the father, uh, he was no different.
SPEAKER_00: He had no more rights than a slave did.
SPEAKER_00: You know, this attitude didn't change much in most of human history.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, for much of human history, children were not viewed in an elevated status.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the author and sociologist, the late Neil Postman, writes in his book, The Disappearance of Childhood, he tells us that until the advent of the printing press, until Gutenberg's printing press in the 1450s, uh, that the realization that there was a learning process that differentiated children from adults uh was not the case.
SPEAKER_00: Children were merely viewed as little adults.
SPEAKER_00: As soon as they were old enough to do something, they were viewed as and treated as adults.
SPEAKER_00: They weren't treated in a different status, a different class.
SPEAKER_00: They were expected to go out and to be productive.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they were mini-adults.
SPEAKER_00: They weren't separated, they weren't a separated group to be protected and educated.
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, we see this really moving up into even up to the 20th century prior to child labor laws in most Western countries.
SPEAKER_00: Uh as an aside, uh Postman argues that from the time of the creation of the printing press until uh the uh the late 20th century, children were increasingly valued and protected in Western society.
SPEAKER_00: But Postman argues, and I think convincingly and persuasively, that with the advent of television and other electronic media, the barriers that were set up to protect children and to treat them differently and distinctly from adults is eroding.
SPEAKER_00: And children are beginning to again be treated as little adults.
SPEAKER_00: And the protections that were put in place now are no more because of the easy access to images and messages on television and I would add on the internet.
SPEAKER_00: But I digress as an aside to what's happening here.
SPEAKER_00: Children were non-players, non-factors.
SPEAKER_00: Uh what is the reality of children?
SPEAKER_00: We have to be careful that we don't let the pendulum go to the other side.
SPEAKER_00: We have to be careful that we don't romanticize children either.
SPEAKER_00: Often in our culture, children are viewed as being completely innocent.
SPEAKER_00: Our culture says that they're pure and innocent, and uh perhaps they're like a blank slate.
SPEAKER_00: Uh one philosopher said, a tablo rasa, a blank slate, that uh that there is nothing in them inherently bad or bent towards evil, uh, but only the influences of society will move them there, that they're inherently good or uh merely a product of their environment.
SPEAKER_00: But the Bible tells us something different about children.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible is very realistic about uh about the reality of children.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that children are by nature sinful.
SPEAKER_00: They're created by God, but they by nature are sinful, and they're born with a bent towards sin.
SPEAKER_00: You may remember in Psalm 51, King David, as he's as he's writing this prayer of repentance, he pens these words.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
SPEAKER_00: David is not saying that the act of procreation is inherently sinful.
SPEAKER_00: This is the way that many in the Catholic Church understand this coming down from Augustine even to this day.
SPEAKER_00: But what David is saying here is that from the moment of conception he was tainted by sin, that he had a sinful nature from birth.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't just learn sin, he was sinful by nature.
SPEAKER_00: And so what the Bible teaches us about children and all people is that children are inherently weak and needy and sinful.
SPEAKER_00: But the Bible also tells us that children are a blessing from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: As I was reflecting on this passage and thinking about the Roman culture, it really struck me that many today have the same attitude towards children as the Romans did in the days of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In some ways, our culture often views children as a burden and a hindrance to the good life.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, talking to couples, many times couples will put off having children for years and years so that they can pursue life and enjoy themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Uh view, as they say, the good life before they're saddled with the burden and the responsibility of children.
SPEAKER_00: Solomon writes in Psalm 127, Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the root, the womb a reward.
SPEAKER_00: Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one's youth.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.
SPEAKER_00: He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
SPEAKER_00: When God gives children, he gives a gift of grace.
SPEAKER_00: Children should be seen as a blessing, not a burden.
SPEAKER_00: When he says that they are our heritage, he uses the word that can be translated as an heirloom.
SPEAKER_00: Something to be treasured and cherished.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the Bible talks about having a large family as a blessing from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: How different from our modern culture, where in the United States, the average family has 2.1 children.
SPEAKER_00: I feel sorry for that 0.1 child.
SPEAKER_00: It's really small.
SPEAKER_00: But children, the Bible says, are a blessing and not a burden.
SPEAKER_00: That we ought to see them as a gift from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But we see here Jesus calling the children to himself and rebuking the rebukers.
SPEAKER_00: And so, thirdly, I want to see now the promise of the Savior.
SPEAKER_00: We see here the love of the Savior for all people.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever the apostles were thinking about Jesus at this point, they got it wrong.
SPEAKER_00: They did not know his heart.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons, that he doesn't accept people on the basis of what they can give him.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, God only accepts those who recognize that they can give him nothing.
SPEAKER_00: That God is all, that God is for all without distinction.
SPEAKER_00: That God is no respecter of persons.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the children and their parents were drawn to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There was clearly a compassion, a love, and an acceptance that radiated from him.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, all those who were considered insignificant, marginalized, or unaccepted by the larger culture found acceptance in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And notice Jesus' attitude towards these that were considered insignificant, who were marginalized, who were thought of as nothing in the larger culture.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus calls them to himself.
SPEAKER_00: And here we see the reflection of the heart of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is the character of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus often calls those to himself that the world rejects.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the Apostle Paul would later comment, and he comments to us as well.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For consider your calling, brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Consider whom the Lord has worked in grace in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: Consider yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: As you look around in the church, as you look around among God's people.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For consider your calling, brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Not many.
SPEAKER_00: Of you were wise according to worldly standards.
SPEAKER_00: Not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
SPEAKER_00: But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
SPEAKER_00: God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
SPEAKER_00: God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not live by the standards of our culture.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter your background, if you have power, position, prestige, popularity, or possessions, they are of no count to the Savior.
SPEAKER_00: God is no respecter of persons.
SPEAKER_00: And we see here Jesus calling these children to himself.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus gives a comparison.
SPEAKER_00: He gives an analogy here.
SPEAKER_00: He gives two comparisons to these children that are coming.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gives two comparisons to little children in entering the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: We see this at the end of verse 16 and into verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God here in the broadest sense is the rule and reign of God, and to enter the kingdom is to come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jesus is not saying here, and some misinterpret this, but Jesus is not saying here that infants are inherently saved by virtue of the fact of being babies.
SPEAKER_00: That isn't Jesus' intent here.
SPEAKER_00: That is not the thrust of this passage.
SPEAKER_00: He is not saying that babies are inherently saved.
SPEAKER_00: Neither is Jesus teaching anything about infant baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Some try to use this passage as a means to explain or justify infant baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Baptism is not in view here.
SPEAKER_00: Notice Jesus is using this as a comparison.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he says in verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: He says, For to such, for to those like these children, belong the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 17, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
SPEAKER_00: So he is using children to make two comparisons between being like children and entering the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And he's drawing out some characteristics of children that relate to the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Not every characteristic or quality of children is to be commended.
SPEAKER_00: And not every characteristic or quality of children is in view here.
SPEAKER_00: He's not commending childishness, immaturity, naivety, or ignorance.
SPEAKER_00: He's not saying, well, in order to be a children, in order to enter the kingdom of God, you just need to be naive and not think about anything.
SPEAKER_00: And you just need to be immature and ignorant.
SPEAKER_00: That isn't what Jesus is saying here.
SPEAKER_00: It's not every aspect or characteristic of children that Jesus is drawing out.
SPEAKER_00: Neither, as I pointed out earlier, is he saying that children are inherently innocent.
SPEAKER_00: But there are two comparisons that Jesus gives here, and I want to draw them out for you and apply them unto entrance for the kingdom of God, but also for those of us who know Christ.
SPEAKER_00: For those of us who have a relationship with Christ, because this reality doesn't change.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, notice what Jesus says at the end of verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: So first, Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
SPEAKER_00: So what does it mean to be like a child?
SPEAKER_00: Well, as a child, as we mentioned, recognize, and this is what Jesus is saying here, recognize that you have no rights, no power, no status, no authority, and no inherent claim upon God.
SPEAKER_00: Little children are unself-conscious and lack self-righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Children are inherently humble.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Jesus says this whoever humbles himself like this child, he says in Matthew 18, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: How unlike the proud Pharisee in the previous passage, and how like the tax collector.
SPEAKER_00: So what Jesus is saying is that the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
SPEAKER_00: To come to faith in Christ, you need to realize that you have nothing to give to God.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing that you can do, there is nothing that you can offer him to earn his favor.
SPEAKER_00: There is no amount of work, there is no amount of good works, there is no amount of righteousness that you can give to God.
SPEAKER_00: You have no right, you have no status, you have no power, you have no authority, you have no claim upon his kingdom, but you come humbly to him and receive his grace.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus says that we come, that the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children, who come humbly, unself-consciously, with a lack of self-righteousness, not appealing to anything other than God's mercy and grace and the provision of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And notice Jesus secondly, he gives a second analogy here.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus secondly says, to receive the kingdom of God, you must do so like a child.
SPEAKER_00: He says this in verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
SPEAKER_00: So again, he talks about receiving the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And what does it mean to receive like a child?
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who have children, especially young children, small children, toddlers and younger, children naturally have a sense of openness, acceptance, and trust.
SPEAKER_00: Children are completely oblivious to any expectation or obligation to give anything in return for a gift.
SPEAKER_00: They have no anticipation of having to pay for a gift.
SPEAKER_00: They would never expect it, they would never think about it, they would never try to do it.
SPEAKER_00: A baby, for instance, completely trusts his mother to provide for him, to provide food, to provide shelter, to provide care.
SPEAKER_00: Like little beggars reaching out for the gift of the king, they just receive with no thought of payment.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think about Christmas with my youngest child, and uh as she was opening Christmas presents, she uh she never bothered to say, Well, who gave this?
SPEAKER_00: Who who is all she did was received it.
SPEAKER_00: Here was a gift for her.
SPEAKER_00: She had no thought of paying for it, no thought of, Dad, I need to pay you back because of how good you've been to me this Christmas and the things you've bought.
SPEAKER_00: All she did was receive what was given to her freely.
SPEAKER_00: She just reached out her hands as a gift was offered to her and she took it and opened it and made it her own.
SPEAKER_00: That's the heart of little children.
SPEAKER_00: If you walk up, in fact, as parents, we try to protect our children because we know that they will go up to anybody.
SPEAKER_00: Little children will go up.
SPEAKER_00: I remember Sophia when we were, when she was just able to walk.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she would walk up and sit in anybody's lap and talk to anybody.
SPEAKER_00: She would accept anything from anybody because that is the nature of a child.
SPEAKER_00: They don't think they have to give anything, they don't owe anything, they don't have to pay anything back.
SPEAKER_00: All they do is receive what has been given to them.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says that is what it means.
SPEAKER_00: And that is how a person enters into the kingdom of God by receiving it as a child.
SPEAKER_00: Like a like like beggars reaching out for the gift of a king.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this truth cuts across our pride.
SPEAKER_00: It cuts us to the quick because it challenges us right at the heart of where we are in our self-sufficiency and our independence.
SPEAKER_00: People don't want to admit that they're powerless, that they have nothing that they can give to God.
SPEAKER_00: People don't want to admit that that they come empty-handed, that the only thing that they have to offer to God is their sin and their brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: And so the gospel is an affront to people because of pride, self-sufficiency, and self-righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: We want to earn God's favor.
SPEAKER_00: We want to pay God back.
SPEAKER_00: We want to say that we had a part in the process.
SPEAKER_00: But grace is only given to the undeserving.
SPEAKER_00: And the only thing that we can do to receive is to receive what has been freely given to us.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here this morning and you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you don't know that when you die you're going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know, you might say, I hope so or I think so, but I don't know where I'm going when I die.
SPEAKER_00: This message is for you.
SPEAKER_00: This message is for you to say, God, I bring nothing but my brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: I bring nothing but my sin.
SPEAKER_00: I come to you empty-handed but open-hearted to receive what you've given to me.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins.
SPEAKER_00: And I accept that, I believe it, I receive it.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're here and you've never accepted Christ, this message is for you.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're here this morning and you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, this message is for you.
SPEAKER_00: Because somehow we do something very subtle with the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We think that the gospel is an entrance into the kingdom of God, but then we think from there on it's about us.
SPEAKER_00: It's about how hard we work.
SPEAKER_00: We think that, okay, Jesus, this is good for those who don't know Christ, but I know you, so now I need to start working.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that our hearts?
SPEAKER_00: We want to bring something to God now.
SPEAKER_00: We want to bring God our good works.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we think that God's grace is meted out to us in proportion to our effort and our good work.
SPEAKER_00: We think now, on a daily, ongoing basis, that we earn God's favor by how hard we work and how much effort we exert and the things we bring to God.
SPEAKER_00: But the message of the kingdom of God is it is by grace from beginning to end.
SPEAKER_00: We receive grace freely, but it's the continuous response of the believer to God every day of his or her life.
SPEAKER_00: I don't go to God in the morning and say, hey, God, look at what I did yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was pretty good, so today you owe me.
SPEAKER_00: You you you saw all the good works I did, and I spent all that time in your word and prayer, and so you know, God, now today I'm giving you yesterday, and so now today it's payback time.
SPEAKER_00: We think in some ways that we can earn or be rewarded by our behavior, and not recognizing that the Christian life is a life of grace from beginning to end.
SPEAKER_00: Like little children whom Jesus calls to himself and embraces in his arms, he receives each one of us and he holds each one of us by his grace alone, not because of our performance or our good works.
SPEAKER_00: Our acceptance by our Savior today is no more based on our merit than the day we were received into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: It is by grace alone.
SPEAKER_00: And so this message here isn't just for those who have yet to come into eternal life, have yet to come to accept Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This is a reminder for each one of us that God does not judge us according to our works.
SPEAKER_00: But he loves us according to the work of his son, Jesus on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And that our acceptance before him isn't because of how hard we work or the things we have done.
SPEAKER_00: The acceptance that we have is only, solely, and exclusively based on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and that alone.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why I can stand before God with confidence today isn't because of anything that I have done.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: The reason I can stand before God is because I have been forgiven for my sins and clothed with the righteousness of Christ by grace through faith alone.
SPEAKER_00: And so this message is the message for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: It's a reminder of how we are accepted by Jesus and how we remain in His presence.
SPEAKER_00: We remain in His presence by grace alone.
SPEAKER_00: These characteristics of being like a child and receiving like a child are characteristics that should be continually a part of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Every day of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: To realize that I am loved by God not because of what I do, but because of what Jesus has done.
SPEAKER_00: That I am accepted by God not because I've made myself acceptable, but because I am accepted in the beloved.
SPEAKER_00: That I stand before God as his dear child.
SPEAKER_00: Not because I continue to earn that status of a child each day, but because he brought me to himself and said I am his own through faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so the message here is not just the message for those who have yet to come to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's a message for each one of us each day of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: That we come to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We come to Jesus not because we have something to give, but because he calls us.
SPEAKER_00: And we receive from Jesus freely without trying to earn his love.
SPEAKER_00: Christ calls us to be like a child.
SPEAKER_00: Christ calls us to receive like a child.
SPEAKER_00: That's how we enter into a relationship with Christ, but that is how we live our lives each day.
SPEAKER_00: If you join me now as I close in prayer, and then we will have a closing song.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, we admit that so much of our lives are trying to earn what we already have that you've already given us.
SPEAKER_00: We're trying so hard to earn your approval.
SPEAKER_00: And we expend so much effort and energy thinking that we're not accepted by you, thinking that somehow we have to try harder and do more and exert more effort.
SPEAKER_00: And we think that that is how we are accepted and delighted on by you.
SPEAKER_00: But you tell us that we are your children through faith in Jesus Christ and that we are accepted and loved by you, not because of the things we do, not because of what we can offer, but by your grace alone.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Father, I pray for us that the gospel in this new year will penetrate our hearts and our minds and our lives in ways that it never has before.
SPEAKER_00: And that we see ourselves through the eyes of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And that we experience the love of our Savior each day.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, remind us of these truths that we will continue to be like children, not in foolishness or ignorance or naivete, but in humility, trying not to earn anything, but receiving your grace and goodness each day by faith.
SPEAKER_00: And may we walk in your love and may that love motivate us to please you.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.